WE ARE CTA

325,000 MEMBERS STRONG

March 14, 2008

Cutting $4.8 Billion from Public Education will Hurt Students

Contact: Sandra Jackson: 916-801-4776

BURLINGAME — California Teachers Association President David A. Sanchez released the following statement today regarding the report by the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence: “California teachers certainly agree there are changes that need to be made to our public schools and we agree that it’s common sense to provide schools and teachers with the resources they need to improve student learning. Therefore, common sense also tells us that cutting $4.8 billion from public education as proposed in Governor Schwarzenegger’s state budget will hurt our students and devastate our schools. We saw the first waves of that devastation today as the number of teachers receiving layoff notices grew to more than 14,000.

“CTA has led the fight to provide additional resources to those students and schools that need help the most. So while it’s encouraging that the Governor’s Committee recommends spending an additional $5 billion for K-12 education, the studies on which this report were based determined that school funding would have to increase by more than 40 percent, or $17 billion, to close achievement gaps and help all students reach the high academic standards the state has set for them.

“As teachers, we certainly agree that it’s common sense to monitor the year-to-year progress of every student, but this report fails to recognize the progress our students and schools are making. Over the last four years, reading scores have increased by 25 percent and math scores are up 17 percent.

“As this report says, it is time to put our students first. That starts with the Governor and California leaders having the courage to build a common-sense budget that provides the resources our students, teachers and schools deserve.”